1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of inflatable chairs and sofas, and particularly inflatable chairs and sofas made of thin, flexible plastic sheet with seat, back and arm parts that may constitute a single inflatable air chamber or a plurality of independently inflatable air chambers.
2. Prior Art
Inflatable chairs and sofas in the prior art are popular for numerous reasons, including providing large attractive seating furniture at a very small cost, providing furniture that can be readily inflated and immediately used or readily deflated and stored in a very small space, providing furniture that can receive unlimited graphic design on its surface, and providing furniture that can be easily cleaned with soap and water.
This furniture is somewhat balloon-like with stiffness and bounciness that depends partly on the amount and pressure of inflation and partly on the configuration. While the overall chair shape is established by the shapes of component sheet elements and the internal structure, there remains a strong tendency for such furniture when inflated to have outward bulging rounded or curved surfaces, especially at the transition areas of the bottom surface with the side, front and rear surfaces. Also, because the interior is substantially movable and compressible air, many inflatable chairs have little stability from tipping when a person sitting in them leans in any direction.
The present invention addresses the described tipping problem of inflatable chairs and inflatable sofas. The invention provides an addition or modification of the chair structure in the vicinity of the bottom or base that inhibits the tipping propensity, while retaining the basic inflatable structure concept, namely to provide a chair or sofa made essentially only from flexible plastic sheet which defines one or more interior air chambers to provide desired shape, strength and comfort.